Rahm blamed for immigrant ban

Hispanic lawmakers say an old adversary, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, has his fingerprints all over a push to prohibit illegal immigrants from buying health insurance plans in a new market for people who don’t get insurance through their employers.

“A forensic study would show it all leads back to Rahm Emanuel and the White House,” said Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who worked with Emanuel when the president’s top aide was in the House.

Story Continued Below

“This analysis is inaccurate,” said a White House aide who had been shown the comments made by Hispanic lawmakers.

The health care bill passed by the House earlier this month would prevent illegal immigrants from getting subsidies to buy insurance, but they would be permitted to buy plans from the exchange with their own money. The Senate bill would cut off that option.

Whether or not the CHC members are pointing their frustration in the right direction, the perception that Emanuel is pushing policies that they see as harmful to their communities for the political advantage of the president or moderate Democrats in Congress could cause the White House problems with the CHC in future negotiations.

Members of the CHC trace what they say is a harder White House line on immigrants to the night of South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress in September.

“There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants,” Obama said. “This, too, is false — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

That prompted Wilson’s now-famous interjection. CHC members say that’s when the White House toughened its stance against illegal immigrants having any access to the system.

“They made it up at the White House,” Gutierrez said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) had hoped to get the House, White House and Senate on the same page on the issue before the House moved forward with its legislation, to spare moderate House Democrats from having to vote on two versions of the provision. At the time, House leaders were debating whether to include a provision like the Senate’s in the House bill to help moderates avoid a tough vote on it or to side with Hispanic members by keeping the looser restriction. Van Hollen met with the CHC before the House vote — to clarify his position — and encouraged members to see if they could get the White House to agree to back their position.

CHC Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez of New York and California Democratic Reps. Xavier Becerra and Lucille Roybal-Allard were rebuffed when they met with Obama at the White House, according to Velazquez. Emanuel was not present.

But Hispanic lawmakers say there is little doubt in their mind where the president’s increasingly tough stance on undocumented workers and their families originates.

“He still thinks immigration will defeat Democrats,” said a CHC member who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Emanuel has long had a strained relationship with the CHC because, as chairman of the House Democrats’ political committee and later of their caucus, he sided with vulnerable Democrats who voted for Republican measures cracking down on immigrants — some of which were seen by Hispanic members as driven by bigotry.

He also came under fire from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) on Thursday for an approach to the health care bill that Conyers said amounts to “give us anything, and we will declare victory.”

Gutierrez said CHC opposition to the approach favored by the Senate and the president is “even deeper-rooted and deeper-cemented” than it was on the night the House passed its bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday she will “stand by” the provision in the House bill during House-Senate negotiations. Van Hollen has also expressed his support for the House version to the White House.

Democratic leaders were surprised that Republican House members did not offer a procedural motion to amend the House bill with language similar to the Senate’s. Several lawmakers and aides familiar with vote counts say such a motion would most likely have been adopted by the House and put the final passage of the bill in jeopardy.

Members of the CHC continue to hint that they may vote against a final health care bill if the Senate’s provision comes back to them in a health care bill.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we do,” said Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-Texas).

Gonzalez said he didn’t know whether Emanuel is involved, but he said the policy is misdirected because it would result in taxpayers funding more expensive emergency health care for illegal immigrants who are unable to purchase health insurance.

“The only reason you ever pursue bad policy is when you think there’s some sort of political advantage,” Gonzalez said.

Be a part of the daily political debate with PROJECT POLITICO powered by YouTube. Click here to submit your video now and be featured on POLITICO.com.